02 October, 2010

Eight Hundred and Ninety-Two, and Please Don't Hate Me


Photobucket


Eight Hundred and Ninety-Two. I can barely write that number and get it right. That represents the number of hits The Colorist received on Thursday. Which is a few more - well, quite a few more - than it is used to getting. The stats have been exploding the past month and a half, but that represents something like a low-yield nuclear weaponized bump.

Many of you are like, "ho hum, I get 900 hits on my blog before breakfast." But, for my humble blab place, that is a happy anomaly. For those of you who walk with mortals and aren't used to such high-handed blog stats, pull up a chair and see how The Colorist got here. It is an amazing story of foibles, foul - ups and flouting full-force the power of the webtunnel.

As the author of The Colorist, I try my hardest to balance that razor's edge between bald self promotion, and universally interesting art content. No blogger that wants to be read by the racing public throng should focus on themselves too much. Does that even need explaining? To that end, I work at writing a few art essays, and I try to promote the best that artist blogs have to offer. Then, I sneak in the bald self-promotion, and likely way too much of that. When I begin to gag on narcissism, I revert back to art content. I hope it all works out in the end, and I have had readers introduce themselves and explain that they appreciate the balance. All I can do is try.

The reason for The Bump of the past month will make my artist blogger friends chuckle, or turn green with envy, or throw a brick through their computer. I hope for the first response. This post was receiving hits like a lab rat on nicotene, and I had to find out why. When I followed the trail left by StatCounter, I found a Google redirect page. As near as I can tell, Google, which never makes mistakes, had randomly selected my Jackson Pollock post as a holding place for confused search devices. Hallelujah! I get hits like Babe Ruth on steroids.

Before you throw that brick, I will plead some of my thoughts on this. On the one hand, that post about the famous artist is not too badly written. I sincerely feel, at the bottom of my heart, that it has near-zero original content. But, as a reference tool, it has something going on. And, as time progressed, my search rank for that post and the image of Galaxy, by JP, began to rank as number one at Google. That is reality, as we count it in computer land. Hello, manna from cyberspace!

I quickly updated it to represent my current format for posts, and added the Pollock dripping paint vid from You Tube. And (you'd do this too, I hope) then I added a couple of big, fat links back to this blog at the top of the post.

All those hits, and a dollar, will now buy me a cup of coffee downtown. Don't hate me, outright, for my good luck, friend. Just hope that Google throws you a bone now and then.


Casey Klahn



abacus photo by chicobangs/photobucket.

30 comments:

Alison Staite said...

LOL! And congratulations!

Casey Klahn said...

Thanks for reading, Alison. That's one more real reader I can add to my list - not just Google misdirects. I value each and every actual reader!

loriann signori said...

I guess you never know! Congrats Casey!

Casey Klahn said...

Yes, Loriann, and the longer I go the less I do know. Thanks for reading!

Charlene Brown said...

Thanks for a really helpful (and really funny) analysis of the Big Bump

Celeste Bergin said...

oooooo you clevah man--you write all that self effacing stuff and punctuate it with that incredibly fabulous red painting that you write NOTHING about ! lol--It is gooooorrrrggggeeeeouuuus. Oh, and Pollock was a good painter too.

Anonymous said...

Hi Casey,
Funny and congrats on the numbers! I enjoyed reading your article and really liked the pastel at the end!

Casey Klahn said...

Pollock? Next time I'll write about Elvis, and just to see the stats.

Thanks @ the abstract, Celeste. I drew it at a Diane Townsend workshop, and I love it, too. I want to do an abstract exhibit someday.

Thanks for reading, Charlene and Peggy!!!

Robin said...

I just found your blog, glad I did now that it's "famous" with so many daily blog hits! I actually was in awe of your post from Sept. 30, just love those abstract landscapes, plan on following you now.

Casey Klahn said...

Great to meet you, Robin. Thank you for looking at the Sept 30 post.

How funny that this post, which is mostly about nothing, has added three "Followers" - and I do count those. I am more and more convinced that writing as well as possible is a huge bonus on an artist blog.

Jean Spitzer said...

This is so funny. Great detective work. And I love the painting at the end.

Elizabeth Seaver said...

Great story! Love it. Pennies from Heaven, right?

Your work is fabulous, too, by the way, not just because it gets found by a redirect page!

Casey Klahn said...

Hi, Jean and Elizabeth. Two more of my bona fide readers. Every one is cherished - and I am grateful to all who are commenting on my humble work.

Dan Kent said...

Darned shame - I already threw my bucket today. Love today's pastel - such a cool abstract. Love how the bright red just floats in front of the other colors.

Casey Klahn said...

I'll give you another chance, Dan. Just wait for it.

Thanks @ the abstract.

irinapictures said...

Great abstract.
I was proud of Moscow photo blog and number of hits and global interest, until I realized that search word was "pipe organ", clever name makes miracles)))

Lisa McShane said...

Darn you! :)

And in other news, as it turns out, geology blogs get waaaaay more hits right out the gate than art blogs. Who knew? Well OK lots of people could figure that out.

Casey Klahn said...

Irina and Lisa - you both make a great point I forgot to bring up. Artist blogs do suffer next to what you might think are more mundane (if you are an artist) subjects. My wife posts at Ravelry, and don't get me started on how much traffic that gets. Grrrr.

My one man project here at TC has been to get out-of-genre as often as possible and to try to encompass, somehow, other types of blogs. I try to keep away from volatile subjects, but knitting is a great start. Geology - 'nother good one. So, I go visiting once and a while.

Unknown said...

That's a neat story, Casey! I'm happy that you had so many hits :-) I'm lucky to get even 40 in a day. Your post is worth reading, for sure, so I hope all these folks stop back again. Love the painting!

Casey Klahn said...

Thanks, Kathy. I value your readership.

Jala Pfaff said...

I'm not really sure what all those terms mean, but it sounds like it was a strange web screw-up that inadvertently made your site suddenly very popular? Funny!

Casey Klahn said...

To tell the truth, Jala, I wish I knew what causes a Google redirect. Mine is not to wonder why...

Thanks for your kind readership, Jala!

Katherine van Schoonhoven said...

Very interesting abstract, Casey! I'm sure the misdirects are happy that they found you. Google is wiser than you think, friend!

Casey Klahn said...

Thanks, Kvan!!! I am happy, no matter what.

Will post a new series (essays) soon.

harry bell said...

Hate you? Fie! Make the most of your good fortune.

Casey Klahn said...

Trying, Harry. I must post again soon.

Linda Packard said...

Whoa! 892! This is definitely the best art blog I know of. Meanwhile, I'm still trying to figure out my gadgets! Congratulations, Casey. Now I've gotta go through your archives as I've missed several month.

Casey Klahn said...

Hi, Linda. That was a week ago Thursday. Then, I noticed 726 this past Thursday. I picture university students searching for Pollock as they study early before the weekend. I hope they get a great start here.

Thank God for dedicated visitors, like yourself!

Sophie Munns said...

Loved this story ...Im a first time visitor... and I didnt come through the Pollock- Google thingi.
The last artwork in the post was magic.
Here's to more random hits. Why not?

Casey Klahn said...

Great to meet you, Sophie. I am admiring your visual arts blog!

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